MARKED FOR THE KNIFE.

Patea Mail, Volume IX, Issue 1115, 21 November 1883, Page 4

MARKED FOR THE KNIFE.

LITERATURE.

He had carried in his hand the end of the belt which ho had removed from around his body while , wai ing for his prey, and with a dexterity acquired, no doubt, hy long practice, in a moment, with the now disengaged hand, he drew it and buckled it round the boy’s arms and body at a single jerk, with a pressure so powerful that he could scarcely breathe, much less disengage his arms, In another moment, with Ups knees on the boy's chest, and one broad hand placed right across his month so as to stifle his screams effectually he hitched round what had seemed to be his hump, Init what proved to be, in fact, a bundle, from which, with the other hand, he took out, with the quickness and neatness of a skilled manipulator, two things; one n sort of cushion about tight inches square, covered with chamois leather—l have that horrible relic, no doubt intended to aid in the process of suffocation, still in my possession —the other was the renowned pitch-piaster. My brother had’not an idea what he Intended, for the disclosures in Edinburgh had not yet enlightened and terrified people pi all ages throughout. England. The miscreant kept bis face close to his victim’s, with his powerful eyes fixed on his. llis dark lean features and long beak, and the thick hair that hung forward like n-sooty plumage round it, and the long sinewy node that arched over my poor brother as lie lay at his assailant’s mercy,'gave him, in the fascinated gaze of the boy, the appearance of a monstrous bird of prey.. I dare say. this ghoul had an actual power such as many men arp said to possess, of controlling the spring of action, mental and bodily, by some occult power of the eye. To my brother it securer that it needed a perpetual and desperate struggle of will to prevent.a fiightfir trance from stealing over him. For * moment ihe wretch’s band was slightly raised from the boy’s month. He intended, no doubt, at this instance tc introduce the pitch-plaster, which was tc s #p both mouth and-nostrils. But mj brother, now struggling frantically uttered two piercing yells, -which compelled the murderer to replace his hand before ho had accomplished, his purpose He was evidently now transported with fury. Up to this he had been operating ns methodically as a spider. He. looked sd fiendish that my brother fancied he would cut his. throat, or otherwise despatch him at-the moment. His plans, however, were different. He Had no idea of losing sight of his interests, ranch less of his safety. No principle of his nefarious trade 'was better established than the absolute necessity of leaving no trace of actual violence upon the persons of bis victims. Even the knee with which he held his prey was padded so carefully that this young boy’s breast did not exhibit the slightest contusion, although for so long tjnder a pressure Which held him at the Verge of suffocation. Rapidly, and with more success, the villain again essayed His final sleight. One dreadful yell escaped, and the deadly pitch plaster was fixed on month and noso, and another sound of respiration became impossible. The leafy bushes above arid about him, the figure, the face of the spectre began to swim before his eyi s. He saw the man, still p.n his knees, rise with a start ftnd ] *'.rse, with his eyes askance and his dark hand to his ear. In tire next instant he had disappeared. In his struggles the boy now rolled from the lair in which he had been attacked into the clear light upon the open patlr where he lay perfectly insensible. When consciousness-Vet rimed, which was not for some minutes, three men were about him, drenching Iris head witlr water, and all endeavouring to extract a word of explanation, but for a long time after, he could not speak a syllabic, nor for some time even hear distinctly what they said. Not a moment was lost, ns soon os he was able to describe what had happened, in directing pursuit whenever any results were the least likely. ‘ All my brother could say to the point toward which the assassin had directed his fight was thal as his,, sight failed, he thought, though* vriry indistinctly, he-saw him pass away obliquely in the direction of the lane in which he had observed the donkey-cart. It must have belonged-tp ; an accomplice who was there by arrangement. Everything. had been prepared to carry away thte body of tire poor fellow, which wonld have been secured in the sack, enveloped in the carpet, and covered with straw, and thus secreted in some lonely lock-up yard until, at dead of night, it would have been conveyed to the dissecting- room. The boy’s hat thrown upon the water worri.d have turned inquiry off the sceut and induced delay. The.stra*;,, still buckled with cruel force abou*., the poor fellow’s arms and ribs, th chamois cushion I have mentioned s and tiic pitch plaster fixed over the lower part of his face, were the only “ properties ” of the Villain left to indicate his visit. The cool old assassin had carried off every Other trace of his presence, and his comrade, taking the donkey cart with them, bad decamped with a celerity and managed their disguise with an art which, as the matters then were, and with a full honr’s start had baffled pursuit. No doubt with the police force now at onr command, the result might have been different. As it was, no clue whatever was discovered ; and this was positively marvellous, considering the marked peculiarities of dress and of person that belonged to the culprit. The persons best acquainted with the Ways of our criminals at that period wore of opinion that the strange details of tire dress, the gait, the hair, the complexion, and the distortion of the figure, were parts of an elaborate piece of masquerading. There was some controversy as to the object of the projected crime. It was not until the terrific exposure at Edinburgh had made all the world horribly familiar with the machinery of the peculiar species of

murder that all tie hate upon the matter ceased, and the pitch-plaster was accepted as conclusive evidence that the body was intended for sale to the snrgcons. No doubt these poachers on a great scale were thoroughly skilled in all the finesse and strategy of their contraband art. The regnlaiity of my i oor brother’s solitary walk, its favourable hour, and the easy suggestion of drowning as the cause of his disappearance, had all been noted, and the enterprise was, as I have told you, very nearly accomplished, when an unexpected interruption saved him. My brother was ailing at the time this dreadful attempt was made upon his life. He survived it little more than ten months, and the able physician who attended him referred his death to the awful shock which his system had received.